Cohen: I covered up Donald Trump’s dirty deeds
Michael Cohen, President Donald Trump’s one-time fixer, has told a judge that he covered up “dirty deeds” out of “blind loyalty” as he was sentenced to three years in prison for crimes that included arranging the payment of hush money to conceal Trump’s alleged sexual affairs.
Separately, the legal and political peril surrounding Trump appeared to deepen when prosecutors announced that another major piece of the investigation had fallen into place: The parent company of the National Enquirer acknowledged dispensing some of the hush money in concert with the Trump campaign to fend off a scandal that could have damaged his bid for the White House.
Cohen, 52, shook his head slightly and closed his eyes as a judge pronounced his sentence for evading US$1.4 million ($2m) in taxes, lying about Trump’s business dealings in Russia and violating campaignfinance laws in buying the silence of porn star Stormy Daniels and Playboy centrefold Karen McDougal, who claimed they had sex with Trump.
Cohen and federal prosecutors have said the payments were made at Trump’s direction to influence the election.
“Time and time again, I felt it was my duty to cover up his dirty deeds rather than to listen to my own inner voice and my moral compass,” said a choked-up Cohen, a lawyer who once boasted he would “take a bullet” for Trump. “My weakness can be characterised as a blind loyalty to Donald Trump, and I was weak for not having the strength to question and to refuse his demands.”
The twin developments represented a double dose of bad news for the President, who ignored reporters’ questions about Cohen during an appearance at the White House later in the day.
Cohen is the first and, so far, only member of Trump’s circle during two years of investigations to go into open court and implicate him in a crime, though whether a president can be prosecuted under the Constitution is an open question.
In a possible sign of further trouble for the President, Cohen said he would continue co-operating with prosecutors, and one of his legal advisers said Cohen was prepared to tell “all he knows” to Congress.
At the sentencing, defence lawyer Guy Petrillo pleaded for leniency for Cohen, saying, “He came forward to offer evidence against the most powerful person in our country.”
US District Judge William H. Pauley said the defendant deserved modest credit, but his assistance “does not wipe the slate clean”. The judge also ordered Cohen to pay US$1.39m in restitution to the IRS, forfeit US$500,000 and pay US$100,000 in fines. He was ordered to report to prison on March 6 and left court without comment.